


Silas Gaunt and the Problem of Salazar's Journal (or why you shouldn't steal from the chamber of secrets and pawn it off on the black market)

by MaddoxCat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Allusions to prostitution, Basilisk(s), Chamber of Secrets, Gen, I vaguely know where the plot is going, Lots of OCs - Freeform, Lots of stealing, Slytherin, i love background characters, more tags to come, the main character's a kleptomaniac
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 03:19:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7996696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddoxCat/pseuds/MaddoxCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A kid goes to hogwarts, steals something he shouldn't and pawns it off only to find out it's the only way to kill voldemort. Oops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silas Gaunt and the Problem of Salazar's Journal (or why you shouldn't steal from the chamber of secrets and pawn it off on the black market)

Silas had stolen chocolate for the occasion. He could have done more, he knows, but James was never fond of Silas’s ‘bad habit’ (even if dark chocolate was his favorite).  
The date, according to this odd calendar Silas had stolen, is June 22nd- Litha, Anniversary of the Battle for Hogsmeade, and in red ink: Silas Gaunt and James Hall’s birthdays. Though he’d checked many times, he had never found a Hogsmeade nor any record of a battle there. The calendar had plenty of other ‘holidays’ which the boys had never heard of. James was convinced it was a practical joke, but Silas always thought it was cool.  
Hurriedly stuffing the calendar and chocolate back in its hiding place in his mattress, Silas scrambles to finish cleaning the room before Carol came to check. He’d be damned if he missed his last night with James because ‘aunt’ Carol locked him outside all night (again). She wasn’t their aunt, but Silas refused to refer to her as his foster ‘mother’. She wasn’t a mother by any stretch of the term.  
The sound of the front door closing and soft footsteps that could only be his foster brother’s approach the door. Silas is up and running to throw his arms around James before the bedroom door is even all the way open. When he glances up, though, Silas can’t help but see the apprehension in his eyes, the way his curly hair is far too mussed, or the bruises on his neck. James will have money tonight then- Silas figures it’s safe to expect a small present, maybe even some candy.  
“You’re about done cleaning, yeah?” James asks quietly.  
Silas nods. “Need any aspirin?” The older boy shakes his head and helps Silas finish making the beds. They work in silence until Carol comes thundering in, bellowing, “It’s about time you got home! You had better fix the fucking sink before you go tomorrow!” She scowls at them both and then lumbers out, mumbling all the while about ‘stupid layabouts’ and ‘delinquents who are never home’. In the tense silence after she leaves, Silas whispers, “The sink broke again this morning, I think it’s something with the pipes again.”  
James sighs and nods, already getting up to handle it. Carol declares half an hour later that James missed dinner and she doesn’t feel like cooking, so she’s heading out to eat. Silas translates this to its usual meaning: she’s going to a bar and she won’t be home until after 3 or 4 am. James and he have the house to themselves for most if not all of the night. It’s another hour, though, until James walks into the bedroom with his shirt wet and hands dripping, declaring that he’s done with the sink.  
“It won’t last much longer,” he murmurs to Silas, “but when it does break again, just use more duct tape.” Silas nods and looks down, biting his lip. Fixing the sink had always been James’s job.  
“You’ll have no problem, and…Soon enough you’ll be coming to stay with me, right?” James asks, his voice reassuring. Silas nods again, feeling his stomach twist. He tries his best to smile for James. Aging out of foster care was supposed to be a good thing. But he couldn’t feel anything but dread and misery.  
James continues, “The motel I’m gonna be at is only a couple blocks from your school, you can stay every weekend if you want.” Silas and James both know that James won’t have food on the weekends, let alone be free of work (and that’s if Carol would even let him out of the house- unlikely). But it’s still an offer that comforts Silas.  
The younger boy sniffles, “I got you chocolate.” James’ smile is radiant and he ruffles Silas’s hair while he kisses the boy’s cheek, “I’ve mentioned before that you’re my favorite lil’ brother, yeah?”  
Silas smiles, despite the lump in his throat. “I’m your only brother.” They weren’t brothers at all. One was muscular and tall with curly hair and soft, warm eyes; the other was small and angular with eyes like drops of ink. But when they found out they had the same birthday, they decided they’d be brothers. James might work two jobs, but he still found time to yell at Silas for stealing and clean up after his mishaps and make sure he ate his vegetables.  
James pulls a book out of his bag and hands it over to Silas without introduction. It’s all about snakes and Silas can’t help but pull James into another bone-crushing hug. James chuckles, “I figure if you can talk to snakes, you may as well know a bit more about them.”  
The first time Silas had started chatting with a snake, James had screamed. It had been a small corn snake, but the teen had still grabbed Silas’s arm and yanked him away, all while Silas protested that the snake had been very polite and he hadn’t even gotten a chance to say goodbye. James had forbidden him from going near snakes ever again, but within weeks little Silas was flipping over rocks and digging through grass to try and find more. After that, James just went with it (it didn’t stop his ‘be careful’ speeches, but Silas had stopped listening to those years ago).  
James relaxes on his bed while Silas curls up next to him with his new book. Tomorrow James will pack up the last of his things and leave. The words on the page swim before Silas’s eyes. It’s quiet and peaceful. He won’t ruin this moment. He won’t think about how James’s bed will be empty tomorrow night. He won’t think about having to take on all of James’s chores. He definitely won’t imagine what it’ll be like to have no one to ruffle his hair or kiss his cheek. His eyes burn with tears he refuses to shed. Silently, James wraps his arm around Silas and Silas tucks his head under his older brother’s chin. James whispers, “Happy 11th birthday, Silas.”


End file.
